“No… impossible. You were going to marry me. Everyone knows you love me…”
His head buzzed with confusion, everything spinning.
Still unwilling to accept it, he shoved past the servants and lunged toward me.
But a thunderous voice from behind stopped him in his tracks.
“You disgrace! You were so determined to marry the Waverly girl, and now you’re making a scene in front of Claire? What are you playing at?”
Orion turned and froze at the glimpse of deep violet fabric. His lips parted, but no words came.
When he finally spoke, it was through gritted teeth, finger jabbing at Rowan.
“Father, you said Claire’s husband would be heir to the throne. Rowan’s no royal–blooded prince! He can’t-”
“What if I say he can?”
Chapter 5
Orion stood frozen in place, his face locked in a rigid expression that made him look like a clown.
“Father… what do you mean by this?”
The king ignored him completely. Instead, he looked at Rowan with warmth in his eyes and gestured to the servants.
“Read the decree.”
The servant read two royal decrees in succession.
The first was a royal marriage granted between Rowan and me.
The second proclaimed Rowan’s true identity as a prince and declared him the heir apparent.
Years ago, Rowan’s birth mother and the king had pledged themselves to each other in secret. But the late king had ordered her to marry the old Duke Ford instead. Less than eight months after the wedding, Rowan was born. The king had known from the beginning that Rowan was his son by blood. To protect the reputation of both the royal family and the Fords, he had kept the truth hidden.
Originally, if the other princes had proved capable and worthy of shouldering responsibility, Rowan would have lived out his life quietly as Duke Ford, never interfering in politics.
